When crafting a mystery, you can do all sorts of fun and crazy things. On one mystery a plant was a bottle of pills. The phone number of the pharmacy was the clue. The number was 487-2543.

If you read the numbers on the phone and look at the letters, you'll see that the phone number can be read as 'It's a lie'. That was a hint that this clue was a Red Herring.

I can see a lot of non-existent goatee stroking going on here. The Deity knows that my friend and I did a lot of that while we were writing a mystery. Keep it as simple as possible but think outside the box. You and your guests will have a great time.

So the time frame is between 7:30-10-30? I don't think you need to prepare a special meal for after the party, but I think it may be a good idea to add at least one more hardier protein to your menu for during the game. Like the meatballs previously mentioned, or perhaps chicken wings or deviled eggs. Meatballs are easier though since you can buy frozen and keep them continuously heated in a crockpot.

I think OP meant that the game would be finished by 10:30, I don't that that's when the party ends since OP is talking about overnight guests.

Here's an idea for helping incorporate the safe, since until that time, only you will know the combination. Figure out something that's important to solving the mystery and put it in the safe. Then put the combination on a piece of paper and tape it in a "public" location, but one which is not too terribly obvious. Those who look around will spot it and be able to open the safe. After the party you can just dispose of the paper, assuming that you trust that no one will write down the combination

Oooh this is a great idea. Like maybe a framed poem on the wall nearby, something like

Starting from 7 at night,she took 3 turns to the right,but then bereft, it was 8 more to the left.From 11 on the dot,10 more took her to the spot.

Three hours is REALLY long for the sleuthing section of a party. We used to get 80 paying guests through five scenes in an hour and we never had a complaint about being rushed or not being able to see everything that was needed. Guests then sat down for dinner and more clues were provided at the table.

I know that these events vary greatly. However, if people are going to sit down after the sleuthing to discuss the fun of the evening, something a little more substantial than coffee and cake may be in order.

I like WillyNilly's idea about a clue in plain but unobtrusive sight. The venue where we did our mysteries had a bulletin board. Nobody paid much attention to it so it was a perfect place to stick an important clue or just something humorous such as 'Nothing to see here'.

However, I might think twice about revealing the combination to the safe. I'm sure your guests are trustworthy but the first group to discover the combination is likely to leave the safe open. We did use a safe in one of our mysteries but the guests only saw it in a video. They never had access to the actual safe.

We're in a holding pattern until about two weeks out at the moment, until we get a firmer guest list. So far we have six guests confirmed, another three or four waffling, and radio silence from the others. Cleaning- organizing, really- is happening this weekend. I tried my tart tatin but cannot get consistent results, so I may swap it out for apple cake or something else. I will keep everyone updated!

Once I get home from work I'll see if I can find a pic of some of the food- the downstairs was too dark to photograph.

When guests arrived, they were given a little goody bag with candy, glowstick, pen, notebook, and some misc stuff- playdoh, bubbles, stickers, that sort of thing. They were a big hit with our 20-30 year old group. About 16 people made it! We were amazed and happy.

The way it ended up being run is that teams of two were sent down to search for clues in the basement for a maximum of ten minutes- the creepy furnace room, and the even creepier root cellar. The lightbulbs had been replaced with blacklights, a body outline drawn on the floor, spiderwebs strung up, bloody handprint shower curtain added to the shower, vaguely ritualistic items laid out on a table with a very creepy candle, and clues strewn throughout, refreshed by Roomie between pairs. The root cellar also included an antique looking phone that rang and rang (there was a motion sensor) until you picked it up, and then said creepy things.

The clues included personal items, and then paper alerting people to things they needed to know to put the physical clues together. After everyone had gone, there was an accusation session in which theories were postulated and evidence was presented to support them.

Items like an ornament and a scrap of paper declaring "Ky loves Christmas" were strong contenders for my guilt, along with a pair of glasses and cupcake pot holder. Meanwhile, a Hoops and Yoyo mirror, engagement ring, and nail file indicated Roomie's possible role in the murder. But then, there was a My Little Pony lunchbox! Could it be the Brony (male fans of the aforementioned show) dressed as Nick Fury?

I was not involved in the mystery planning, so it was a shock to find out that...Roomie and I were *both* the murderesses! So that we could have the party, of course. (And Nick Fury was allowed to keep the lunchbox because he was just so excited over it.)

Prizes were awarded for 'Most Enthusiastic Crime Solvers', which went to Nick Fury and his also-Brony buddy, who scared themselves half to death in the basement, "Best Detective" for Alice and the Mad Hatter, as Alice pinpointed our guilt, "Best Costume" to Mikey from Recess, Second to Muriel and Courage the Cowardly Dog, and Third to Chun-Li and Guile from Street Fighter.

The food was much complimented, drinks drunk, and in general everyone had a really good time and it was awesome! And we got such a good response we're thinking of doing it again next year, because for a lot of our guests, this was their sole chance at Halloween celebration.

These things call for a lot of planning and organization. It sounds like you and your Roomie did a masterful job. Having someone to refresh areas sleuths will visit is very important as you now know.

However, be warned! Pulling off a party like this can be addictive. I wouldn't be surprised if Roomie started throwing around ideas at Easter.

If you do decide to do another murder night, I suggest you consider purchasing 'Murder Off Miami' or 'Who Killed Robert Prentice' by Dennis Wheatley. We found these very helpful when planning our mysteries.